By now, you’ve learned a lot about our various Airbnb encounters, from the Albuquerque moth battle to our quaint room in Jennifer’s place in Clarksdale, Mississippi. But I haven’t told you about our overnight in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee – our stop between D.C. and Nashville.

It was off the beaten path for sure and looked almost too good to be true. The D.C. gig and experience was good, and the Airbnb there offered that great late night chat with Stephen from Rochester, New York, but this place looked amazing online and was such a contrast to D.C.

It was literally a breath of fresh air.

Sitting among fields of cows and horses was this farmhouse with a long driveway and barns overlooking a beautiful pond. Our two-bedroom space was in the renovated basement, and sported a gorgeous antique cooking stove, pool table and comfy couch and chairs. There was even a welcoming bowl of candy bars on the table and it came equipped with everything you’d want as far as dishes and appliances.

It reminded me of where I grew up in Vermont and felt so homey and warm. My great aunt and uncle cooked on a similar wood-fired stove in an old Vermont farmhouse until their deaths in their 80s and 90s respectively – despite having an electric range in another room.

Oh, and we paid $91 to stay there.

We almost immediately went for a walk to stretch our legs and met our host Marcia up near the barn. There was also a farm worker, college-aged I’d guess, with a pretty thick southern accent that I loved. They were both super friendly and welcoming and seemed to enjoy our chat.

Places like this get me wondering why they do it. Based on the meticulously maintained grounds, I was  assuming they weren’t struggling for the next $91. I wondered if it was simply a cool way to meet people and get a little extra money in the process.

In a follow-up phone conversation with Marcia, I learned that she and her husband had built the house about 20 years ago, but that the farm on which it stood had been in her husband’s family since 1842.

With her kids all grown, and the finished basement not being used much by visitors, she and her husband looked into the Airbnb model. And once they learned WiFi was finally coming to their area, they decided to try it.

“We thought, we don’t think anybody will want to stay in Strawberry Plains, but we’ll open it up in case anybody ever does. It was just good stewardship of the space and it could offer high speed internet,” she said.

And after talking to Marcia for a little while, it kind of became clear what she gets out of hosting.

“I derive the most pleasure, just because of the way the property is set up, from having a family come in and just see like the kids and the dad out on the dock fishing together. Sometimes for the very first time, the little Mickey Mouse rod and real. I’m just so thankful that they can have those experiences while traveling and have family time,” she said.

Many visitors come and go without her even meeting them, but many, like us, like to chat with them, she said.

The farm was in her husband’s family for decades and he talks about raising beef cattle, showing animals in 4H competitions and baling hay for sale. That history isn’t lost on her. She told a story of how Gerald’s father was standing with them on the property when they were picking out a spot to build their house and mentioned how that was the spot he was standing when he saw his first car.

The land has so much family history, she said, and she enjoys sharing both the land and the stories.

“To know that anybody can come in and appreciate any part of that means a lot to us,” she said.

She also made me feel good after I told her how lucky I felt to be included in the trip with my daughter.

 “That story would make any dad of a daughter jealous,” she said.

I have friends who prefer hotels over Airbnbs, but I like the extra room and the stories that Airbnbs provide.

When Kirsti and I did a mini road trip a few years before this one, we stayed at a place in Nashville that little did we know was later featured on Tiny House Nation. It was an eclectic large shed basically, but neatly decorated and had an old turntable and some albums to play, including one by Johnny Cash.

It was a cool little place, though I wish I knew a train went by quite frequently basically in the backyard. Not a great night’s sleep, but a great story.

And hotels don’t offer what Airbnb hosts like Jennifer in Clarksdale do. We were literally sitting with her in her kitchen, visiting as she prepared our breakfast. You get to see the people behind the lodging facility, and they get to meet people like us. 

Jennifer, originally from Colorado, said Mississippi is very different from her home state and that hosting guests is a “way to meet people more like myself.”

“It’s another world here, and through Airbnb I’ve gotten to meet some really interesting people. And after doing it for about five years, she said there was only “one guest I was glad when they left.”